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vol. I. c.157.

he was removed to Baliol college in Oxford. November 29, 1563, he was elected probationer fellow of his college, and having foon after entered into holy orders, he became a celebrated preacher in the univerfity. In 1593, he took his degree of batchelor in divinity, and proceeded doctor in that faculty in May, 1597; and, in the month of September of the fame year, he was elected mafter of Univerfity College. About this time it was, that the differences began between him and Dr. Laud, which fubfifted as long as they lived. of abp Laud, In March 6, 1599, he was inftalled dean of Winchefter: fol. 1688. the year following he was chofen vice-chancellor of the P. 53. univerfity of Oxford, and a fecond time in 1603. In 1604, Ant. Wood, that translation of the bible now in ufe was begun by the Fafti Oxon. direction of king James, and Dr. Abbot was the fecond of & 165. eight divines of Oxford, to whom the care of tranflating the whole new teftament (excepting the epiftles) was.com- Fuller's ch. mitted. The year following he was a third time vice-chan- hift. lib. x. cellor. In 1608, died his great patron Thomas Sackville, T. Lewis's earl of Dorset, lord high treasurer of England, and chancellor comp. hift. of the univerfity of Oxford: after his deceafe Dr. Abbot became of the tranfl. chaplain to George Hume, earl of Dunbar, and treasurer of and teft. 8vo. Scotland; with whom he went to that kingdom to affift in p. 311. establishing an union betwixt the kirk of Scotland and the church of England, and in this affair he behaved with fo Heylin's hift. much address and moderation that it laid the foundation of of prefbyreall his future preferment (b). When he was at Edinburgh, a rians,f.1672,

fol. 46. 57.

of the bible

P. 383. (b) King James had fuffered fo "the indiction (or calling) of all gemuch by the fpirit and power of the prefbyterians in Scotland, that he was very defirous of restoring the form of government by bishops in that kingdom; the care of which was entrusted to the earl of Dunbar. This noble lord had proceeded fo far two years before, as to obtain an act for the restitution of the eftates of bihops. The prefbyterians, however, had made fo ftout a refiftance, that the whole affair was in the utmost danger of being overthrown; but by the good management of Dr. Abbot, many difficulties were removed, and the clergy of Scotland were brought to a better temper; for the earl of Dunbar, who was wholly guided in this matter by the advice of his chaplain, procured an act in the general affembly, "That the king fhould have

"

" neral affemblies. That the bishops,
" or their deputies fhould be perpe,
"tual moderators of the diocefan
"fynods. That no excommunica
"tion or abfolution fhould be pro-
" nounced without their approbation.
"That all prefentations of benefices
"hould belong to them. That eye-
" ry minifter, at his admiffion to a
benefice, fhould take the oath of
fupremacy and canonical obedience.
"That the vifitation of the diocefe
"fhould be performed by the bishop
or his deputy only and finally,
that the bishop should be modera-
"tor of all conventions, for exer-
cifings, or prophefyings, which
thould be held within their
"bounds." All which articles were
ratified by the parliament of that
kingdom.
profe-

B 4

prosecution was commenced against one George Sprot, for having been concerned in Gowry's confpiracy eight years before A long account of this affair, with a narrative prefixed by Dr. Abbot, was published at London to fatisfy the publick about this matter, which had hitherto appeared Calderwood's doubtful and myfterious. Abbot's behaviour in Scotland fo hift. of the much pleased king James, that he ever after paid great defeland, p. 443. rence to his advice and counfel: there is extant, a letter from his majesty to him, relating to the convocation, which he had confulted about the lawfulness of espousing the cause of the ftates (c). Upon the death of Dr. Overton bishop of Litch

ch. of Scot

(c) Here follows a copy of the letter *.

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'Good Dr. Abbot,

you please to name it. In the late queen's time, this kingdom was very free in affifting the Hollanders 'both with arms and advice, and none of your coat ever told me, 'that any fcrupled at it in her reign. Upon my coming to England, you may know that it came from fome ' of yourselves to raise fcruples about 'this matter; and albeit I have often

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'I cannot abstain to give you my
·
judgment on the proceedings in the
⚫ convocation, as you will call it, and
both as rex in folio, and unus gregis
in ecclefia, I am doubly concerned.
"My title to the crown nobody calls
in queftion, but they that love nei-
⚫ther you nor me, and you may guefs
whom I mean: all that you and
your brethren have faid of a king
in poffeffion, (for that word, I tell
you, is no more than that you
make use of in your canon) con-
cerns not me at all, I am the next
heir, and the crown is mine by all
rights you can name, but that of
conqueft; and Mr. Sollicitor has
fufficiently expreffed my own
thoughts concerning the nature of
kingship, and concerning the nature

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told my mind concerning jus reg um in fubditos, as in May laft, in the star chamber, upon the occasion of Hales's pamphlet; yet I never took any notice of thefe fcruples till the ' affairs of Spain and Holland forced me to it. All my neighbours call on me to concur in the treaty between Holland and Spain, and the honour of the nation will not suffer 'the Hollanders to be abandoned, especially after so much money and men spent in their quarrel; there

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of it ut in mea perfona; and I before I was of the mind to call my lieve you were all of his opinion, at least, none of you faid any thing contrary to it at the time he spoke to you from me: but you know all of you, as I think, that my reafon of calling you together, was to give your judgments, how far a chriftian and a proteftant king may concur to affift his neighbours to shake off their obedience to their own fovereign, upon account of • oppreffion, tyranny, or what else

clergy together, to fatisfy not fo much me as the world about us, of the juftness of my owning the 'Hollanders at this time. This I 'needed not to have done, and you have forced me to fay, I wish I had not; you have dipped too deep in what all kings referve among the arcana imperii, and whatever averfion you may profess against God's being the author of fin, you have stumbled upon the threshold of that opinion,

'in

* New Obfervator, vol. III. no 12. the author of which tells us, the original is in the bands of an eminent perfon; the four laft lines in the king's own band, and the reft in the fecretary's.

Litchfield and Coventry, the king named Dr. Abbot for his fuccellor, and he was accordingly confecrated bishop of those two united fees, in December 1609. About a month afterwards he was tranflated to the fee of London, vacant by the death of Dr. Thomas Ravis. Upon the decease of Dr. Richard Bancroft, archbishop of Canterbury, on the fecond of November 1610, his majesty had a new opportunity of testifying his esteem for Dr. Abbot, and accordingly raised him to the archiepifcopal fee. He became now in the highest favour Regift.ipfius, both with prince and people, and was concerned in all the fol. 1. great affairs both in church and ftate. However, he never appeared over fond of power, nor did he endeavour to carry his prerogative as primate of England to any great height; yet he fhewed a steady refolution in the maintenance of the rights of the high commiffion court, and would not fubmit to lord Coke's prohibitions. Being a man of mode- Winwood's ration in his principles, he greatly difpleafed fome of the memorials, high churchmen; but he had as great concern for the vol. III. p. church as any of them, when he thought it really in danger. His great zeal for the proteftant religion, made him a ftrenuous promoter of the match between the Elector Palatine, and the princess Elizabeth, which was accordingly concluded and folemnized the 14th of February, 1612, the archbishop performing the ceremony on a ftage erected in the royal chapel. On the 10th of April his electoral highness set out for Germany before his departure, he made a prefent of plate to the archbishop, of the value of a thousand pounds; and as a mark of his confidence, he wrote a letter to him from Canterbury, informing him of the grounds of that discontent with which he left England. About this time it was Ib. p. 454• that the famous Hugo Grotius came over to England, to endeavour to give his majefty a better opinion of the remonftrants, as they then began to be called; we have a very fingular account of the man, and of his negotiation in a letter from the archbishop, to fir Ralph Winwood. In the Ib. p. 459.

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281.

following year happened the famous cafe of divorce betwixt the lady Frances Howard, daughter of the earl of Suffolk, and Robert earl of Effex: this affair has been by many confidered as one of the greatest blemishes of king James's reign, but the part acted therein by the archbishop added much to the reputation he had already acquired for incorruptible integrity (d). In 1618, the king published a declaration, which he ordered to be read in all churches, permitting sports and paftimes on the Lord's day; this gave great uneafiness to the archbishop, who happening to be at Croydon when it Heylin'shift. came thither, had the courage to forbid its being read. On of the Sabb. the 5th of April, 1619, fir Nicholas Kempe laid the first

P. 493.

ftone of the hofpital at Guilford; the archbishop, who was prefent, afterwards endowed it with lands to the value of three hundred pounds per annum, one hundred of which was to be employed in fetting the poor to work, and the remainder for the maintenance of a mafter, twelve brothers, and eight fifters, who have blue cloaths, and gowns of the fame colour, and half-a-crown a week each. The 29th of October, being the anniversary of the bishop's birth, is com→ memorated here, and the archbishop of Canterbury for the Aubrey's an- time being is the vifitor of the hofpital. Towards the end tiq. of Surrey, of this year, the Elector Palatine accepted of the crown of vol. III. p.

2821

(d) This affair was by the king referred to a court of delegates. It was drawn out into a great length, and many accidents happened in the course of it, which gave the archbifhop difquiet. He saw plainly, that the king was very defirous the lady fhould be divorced, but he was, in his own judgment, directly against the divorce. He laboured all he could to extricate himself from thefe difficulties, by having an end put to the caufe by fome other way than by fentence; but it was to no purpose, for those, who drove on this affair, had got too great power to be reftrained from bringing it to the conclufion the defired. He prepared a fpeech, which he intended to have Spoken, against the nullity of the marriage, in the court at Lambeth; but he did not make use of this fpeech, because the king ordered them to deliver their opinions in few words.

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Saunderson's hiftory of king James, page 390.

Bohe

Bohemia, which occafioned great difputes in king James's councils: fome were defirous that his majesty should not interfere in this matter, foreseeing that it would produce a war in Germany; others again were of opinion, that natural affection to his fon and daughter, and a juft concern for the Proteftant intereft, ought to engage his majefty to fupport the new election. The latter was the archbishop's fentiment, and not Heylin's life being able at that time to attend the privy council, he wrote his mind with great boldness and freedom to the fecretary of ftate (e). The archbishop being now in a declining state of health,

(e) The letter is as follows*.

Good Mr. Secretary,

'I have never more defired to be ' present at any consultation than ' that which is this day to be handled,

for my heart and all my heart goeth ' with it; but my foot is worse than it was on Friday, fo that by ad*vice of my physician, I have sweat this whole night past, and am di⚫rected to keep my bed this day.

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of the earth that gave their power
unto the beast (all the word of God
must be fulfilled) shall now tear the
whore and make her defolate, as
St. John in his revelation has fore
'told. I pray you therefore with all
the fpirits you have, to put life into
this business; and let a return be
made into Germany with speed,
and with comfort, and let it be
'really profecuted, that it may ap❤
pear to the world, that we are
awake when God in this fort calleth

us.

If I had time to exprefs it, I could be very angry at the shuffling which was used towards my lord Doncafter, and the flighting of his

touch upon our great mafter who
did fend him; and therefore I would
never have a noble fon forfaken for
respect of them who truly aim at
nothing but their own purpofes.

But for the matter; my humble advice is, that there is no going ⚫ back, but a countenancing it against ⚫ all the world; yea, fo far as with 'ringing of belis, and making of 'bonfires in London, fo foon as it ' fhall be certainly understood that the coronation is past. I am fatis-embaffage fo, which cannot but 'fied in my confcience, that the caufe is juft, wherefore they have rejected that proud and bloody man, and fo 'much rather, because he hath taken * a course to make that kingdom not elective, but to take it from the do'nation of another man. And when 'God hath fet up the prince that is chofen to be a mark of honour through all Chriftendom, to propagate his gofpel and to protect the ⚫ oppreffed, I dare not for my part give advice, but to follow where God leads.

It is a great honour to the king • our master, that he hath fuch a

fon, whose virtues have made him thought fit to be made a king; and ⚫ methinks I do in this, and that of Hungary, foresee the work of God, that by piece and piece, the kings

Cabala, third edition, page 102,

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Our ftriking in will comfort the
Bohemians, will honour the Palf
grave, will strengthen the union,
will bring on the states of the Low-
Countries, will ftir up the king of
Denmark, and move his own uncles
the prince of Orange and the duke
de Bouvillon, together with Tre-
*moville (a rich prince in France) to

caft in their shares; and Hungary,
as I hope (being in that fame caufe)
will run the fame fortune. For
the means to fupport the war, 'I
hope providebit Deus: the parlia-
ment is the old and honourable
way, but how affured at this time

p. 83.

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